Guest danda Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 Friday 6th April a fellow aviator was severely injured when he started his trike not noticing that it was on full throttle. The trike moved forward on full power causing him the propeller to strike his shoulder and back. He has been transfered to Canberra hospital in a serious condition his present condition is not known at this stage. Don:crying:
Ben Longden Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 YIKES!!! Hope he is ok and did'nt lose any bits..... Ben
Guest danda Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 He is still in Canberra Hospital fighting for his life at best he will loose his arm and at this stage they haven't determined the extent of his spinal injury's his whole back was almost striped of flesh. Not good at all this was the first time he had started it in 2 years I'm told very very sad. Don
Guest TOSGcentral Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 Sorry to be blunt, particularly in such a terrible circumstance. But if we do not learn from the past then we are condemned to repeat it! But do we have to? This was totally avoidable by a five second pre-start check! Brakes ON (Or CHOCKS if you are outside the cockpit in order to start. Fuel ON, and contents sufficient. Switches OFF (so you can safely touch the prop and prime the motor) Throttle CLOSED so you know it will not run away on you! You now know the exact status of the machine and it cannot bite. So you can now set it up the way you want to start it. Just five seconds of Airmanship to avoid the life that will now follow! Damn guys - just do it kosher will you please! It is not hard! Tony
Guest danda Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 Blunt but true Tony these things have a flow on effect, my best mate saw this whole event unfold and sat with that gentleman until help arrived in truth it has effected him for what I believe will be long term, my friends wife although not witnessing the horror unfold was there to assist as was another woman on the airfield. The truth is that these things create a ripple effect and many lives are effected. To be truthful I pray this never happens again acquaintances are always however good friends are hard to find. Don
Guest TOSGcentral Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 I am not insensitive Chris – hence my opening apology. Further, I will not normally comment on accident reports until a formal report comes out (if it ever does). But a prop strike is always reasonably open and shut, can do appalling damage and may easily kill. About the only good thing to come out of an accident is what we may learn from it. This one sadly was so gruesome there was an opportunity to underline basic points with people in a frame of mind to remember them – and avoid doing the same thing. A lot of ‘out of cockpit’ starting does happen in our movement so there is plenty of opportunity for this to happen. If I have offended then I unreservedly apologise. I suppose it is how an individual views the purpose of the accident and incident forum. Tony
Admin Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 This has been a very unfortunate "Accident". As Tony points out it is accidents that we all learn from to help keep us all safe. Generally accidents happen not from a single cause but from a collection of circumstances that when all come together have an undesired consequence. Any one single circumstance will not have caused the undesired result. The other thing that we must be mindful of is that we do not know ALL the circumstances that came together at that very point in time so whilst any one of us may surmise on a cause, we can only do so without knowing ALL of them. It is for this reason that we in these forums do not allow anyone to air their thoughts on maybe some of the circumstances until official reports are released. The underlying consideration must always be given to the well being of people involved in accidents and WE ALL hope that the person involved in this one makes a speedy recovery - our thoughts are with the pilot, family and friends. Thread closed!
Admin Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 Here is some great news just now from Danda: There is some good news. It would seem that the wonderful medical staff at Canberra hospital have done such a good job that this gentleman in now on the road to recovery they may even save his arm. Great news straight from the hospital via the Police at Holbrook. Don
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